Hawley's York show Hollow promise

Chris Page

Richard Hawley showcases spectacular latest album Hollow Meadows when he plays York Barbican next weekend.

Friday February 19 sees the star singer songwriter's eighth studio album feature in impressive back catalogue.

Recorded at Sheffield’s Yellow Arch Studio, the album saw Hawley return to sophisticated and subtle arrangements that made him so widely loved and revered in the first place.

Meditating on such themes as ageing, fallibility and relationships, much of the classic album shared a brooding, yet wistful and romantic atmosphere in keeping with early albums Late Night Final and Lowedges as well as touches of 2009’s Truelove’s Gutter and Standing At The Sky’s Edge.

For the first time, he demoed songs in his shed studio, which glories under the name of Disgracelands, with his long-time guitarist and confidant cum co-producer Shez Sheridan.

Opening track I Still Want You stands out as Hawley at his most vulnerable and romantic, featuring signature chorus that only Hawley seems capable of writing "like a ballroom spotlight on a glitterball".

UK folk scene's finest including neighbour and friend Martin Simpson as well as Nancy Kerr are included on the album while other guests includes long-time mate Jarvis Cocker and Hick Street Chip Shop Singers, comprising assorted Sheffield luminaires, including Slow Club’s Rebecca Taylor.

Next Friday the streets will indeed be ours when the Longpigs guitarist turned solo sensation stars at York Barbican.